The Atlanta Braves are the best-hitting team in baseball. Below, I highlight why I expect their dominance at the plate to continue against the Chicago Cubs. Then, I highlight why I have no faith in the Los Angeles Dodgers' offense and why I'm backing the Washington Nationals in a tough matchup. Here are the best MLB picks for Thursday, May 14th.
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Thursday’s Best MLB Picks & Predictions
This Season: 10-10-1 (+0.65 units) | Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves
The Braves have continued their dominance at the plate, and they now have 21 more hits than any other team in the Majors. They're averaging 9.38 hits per game, which is why I think they're ultimately going to get the better of Ben Brown and the Cubs tonight.
Brown has been excellent this season, allowing just 18 hits in 29.2 innings. The problem is that he simply doesn't pitch many innings in his appearances, which means that the Braves won't have to deal with him for very long. The Braves only have three hits against Brown in 18 at-bats, but the Cubs' pitching staff is still prone to giving up hits.
While the Cubs rank ninth in the league, they're still allowing 7.6 hits per game, so it won't take that much of an effort for the best hitting team in the league to get over this number. And considering the price, I can't help but find this to be one of the most valuable plays of the day.
Pick: Braves Over 8.5 Hits (+105)
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers' offensive struggles are officially alarming. While they won 4-0 on Wednesday, the Dodgers have scored four or fewer runs in six consecutive games and in 12 of their last 14 games overall. In their current series with the Giants, they've scored just nine runs in three games.
Tonight, the Dodgers are tasked with facing Landen Roupp, a pitcher who has performed very well this season. While he does have three appearances with three or more earned runs, Roupp has allowed one or fewer earned runs in his other five starts. Against the Dodgers earlier this season, he allowed just one hit and one earned run in five innings. The Giants won that game 3-1.
The Dodgers are hitting just .167 off Roupp in his career, as he has struck out 18 batters in 48 at-bats. Roupp has been somewhat inconsistent this season, but the Dodgers have been so bad offensively of late that I'll give him the edge in his second meeting with them.
Pick: Dodgers Team Total Under 4.5 Runs (-125)
Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds
I don't know if the Nationals will complete the sweep of the Reds, but I have total faith in their offense right now. This is a team that has scored the second-most runs in the Majors and has scored at least eight runs in each game against the Reds in this series.
This will be a tough matchup against Chase Burns, but despite some solid numbers, Burns has been hittable this season. He has allowed at least four hits and multiple runs in three games this season. While his numbers against the Nationals are decent, he hasn't faced the majority of this lineup.
The Nationals have scored at least seven runs in five of their last seven games. I'll back them in this spot, despite the tough matchup. The number is so low, and the offense is so hot.
Picks: Nationals Team Total Over 3.5 Runs (-105)
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.